Shopper-contestants battle it out in charitable Race for Hunger

Kristen Holmes

Local celebrities Mike Dever, Lawrence mayor, left, and Baldwin City Council Member Kent Wagner raced through the aisles on Wednesday at Hy-Vee, 3500 Clinton Pkwy.

Lawrence Mayor Mike Dever, left, looks at Roberta Lehmann, office manager of Pyle Meat Co. in Eudora, as she checks her shopping list Wednesday at the Race for Hunger. Local celebrities raced through the aisles at Hy-Vee, 3504 Clinton Parkway, for groceries that would be donated to their favorite charities as part of the National Farm Bureau’s Food Check-Out Week.

Five Lawrence personalities with five ribbon-and-balloon-clad shopping carts, a list of items and seven minutes on the clock.

On your mark, get set, shop!

The Race for Hunger, in which contestants were to grab as many items off their lists as possible, took place Wednesday at Hy-Vee, 3504 Clinton Parkway, as part of the National Farm Bureau’s Food Check-Out Week.

“This event is held all over the country,” said Jamie Knabe, of the Douglas County Farm Bureau. “It’s just our way of making people aware that farmers and ranchers … are still trying to provide affordable food for America.”

This year, the Farm Bureau’s focus is “Stretching Your Food Dollar with Healthy Nutritious Food,” because of the economic crisis and the rising cost of food.